Cliff Pokémon GO July 2021: How to Counter

"A muscular man with a distinct Poké Ball beard design, approached us. Cliff, just as he appeared in the corrupted files on my computer."
"A muscular man with a distinct Poké Ball beard design, approached us. Cliff, just as he appeared in the corrupted files on my computer." / Photo courtesy of Niantic

Cliff in Pokémon GO has been one of the main centers of attention in July 2021 as trainers trying to figure out the best way to beat the Team GO Rocket Leaders once again this month.

Along with Arlo and Sierra, Cliff is back with the same team of Pokémon that he had in June. Here's the most up-to-date way of how to counter and beat Cliff in Pokémon GO this July.

Cliff Pokémon GO July 2021: How to Counter

The first tip to note is that as standard procedures go with facing off against Team GO Rocket Leaders, trainers should make sure they start their ace Pokémon in the second or third position.

This is because Cliff and co. always will pause their attacks any time a Pokémon is switched in the middle of battle.

Thus, after starting the battle with your true second or third option, immediately switch to your ace to burn off their shields as fast as you can with Charged Attacks.

Next up is knowing which Pokémon Cliff can throw out there. While Cliff will always throw Seedot out first, the second and third Pokémon are drawn at random from the following trios.

  • Pokémon 1: Seedot (weak to Fire, Flying, Bug, Poison and Ice)
  • Pokémon 2: Kingler (weak to Grass and Electric), Poliwrath (weak to Fairy, Flying, Psychic, Electric and Grass) or Hariyama (weak to Fairy, Flying and Psychic)
  • Pokémon 3: Tyranitar (weak to Fighting, Fairy, Ground, Bug, Steel, Water and Grass), Sharpedo (weak to Fairy, Bug, Electric, Grass and Fighting) or Torterra (weak to Ice, Flying, Fire and Bug)

Overall, strong Flying-type and Grass-type Pokémon are the most versatile and effective to bring for defeating Cliff as his entire lineup can be countered by one or the other. An optional third Pokémon to bring would ideally be an Ice-type to counter the Grass/Ground-type Torterra.

For more on Pokémon GO, feel free to check out our guides on how to get Chikorita and Totodile as part of the game's 5-Year Anniversary Collection Challenge.